


A Million Stories

by KristiLynn



Category: Captain America (Movies), Castle, Forever (TV), Friends (TV), Mad Men, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Torchwood
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-01 20:24:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5219582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KristiLynn/pseuds/KristiLynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every day people walk in and out of each other's lives...</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Million Stories

_“There are no coincidences in life. What person that wandered in and out of your life was there for some purpose, even if they caused you harm. Sometimes, it doesn’t make sense the short periods of time we get with people, or the outcomes from their choices. However, if you turn it over to God he promises that you will see the big picture in the hereafter. Nothing is too small to be a mistake.”_  
_― Shannon L. Alder_

\---

 

There are 8 million people in New York. 8 million people walking in and out of each others lives, some making a difference that they will never know about.  
  
But for Henry it’s all he can think about. In the hundreds of year he’s lived he has seen seemingly normal people turn into newsmakers; presidents and CEO’s, people who just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  
  
Henry Morgan has met millions of people and has thousands of stories. But no one would ever know them except for him.

 

\---

 

**1922**

Henry walked into the bar, his hair still dripping wet and the clothes he stole off a clothesline sticking to his body.  
  
“What can I get for you?” The bartender asked.  
  
“Give me--” Henry paused. He had never been this exhausted before. This in need of a way to give up. “I really don’t care.”  
  
The bartender gave him a sideways glance as he turned to make a drink while a stranger slid into the seat next to him.  
  
“You look like you’ve had a rough day,” The stranger said.  
  
That caused Henry to have the first real laugh in weeks. If this stranger only knew. And Henry turned his head to tell him that, but before the words came out of his mouth he looked at the man and felt sick to his stomach. He had seen this man before, at the fight that ended with him dead.  
  
“I’m Captain Jack Harkness,” The man said sticking out his hand. “Let me buy you a drink. There are somethings that I think we should talk about.”

 

**1943**

Henry watched Steve Rogers walked into the restaurant. From the way he was dressed, in civilian clothes and a hat, Henry could tell he was trying to lay low. But Steve had a face that was plastered from New York to California so that couldn’t be easy.  
  
He slid onto the bar stool next to Henry and picked up a menu. He stared at the front, then the back, and then the front again.  Then he turned to Henry and asked, “When did they change the menu?”  
  
“Couple weeks back.  Rationing hit them hard.”  
  
Steve nodded his head and went back to his menu.  “What would you recommend?” he asked.  
  
"I’d have to say the spam hash and chocolate cake would be your best bet.”  
  
“Yum,” Steve said under his breath and motioned to the waitress.  
  
After placing his order he turned to Henry and asked, “So your accent, is that Welsh?”  
  
“You have a good ear.”  
  
“Well I spend a lot of time around accents.”  
  
Henry looked down at his watch, if he didn’t leave now he would be late. “It was nice talking with you, but I must be off.”  
  
“Good talking to you too.” Steve stuck out his hand “I’m Steve.”  
  
“Henry.”

 

**1971**

Henry didn’t notice the man at first. It was only after he called home to have Abigail come and pick him up did he spot the man standing on the bridge looking down at the water. Any other time he’d say the man was just enjoying the view. But at eleven at night? No there was another reason, and as Henry watched him climb over the protective railing he knew he was correct.  
  
“Excuse me?” Henry said and the man turned quickly almost falling from the railing he was standing on. “Woah!” Henry exclaimed, his hands reaching out to try and catch the man “I didn’t mean to startle you. It’s just that, I’m a little exposed here,” he motioned to his naked body “and I was wondering if you won’t mind lending me your coat, if it’s not to much trouble.. Just until my ride comes.”  
  
The man slid off his jacket and tossed it to Henry. “Not like I will be needing it anyway.”  
  
“Thank you.” Henry slipped it on and held it close to his body. “I’m Henry, by the way. Henry Morgan.”  
  
“Don. Don Draper.” Don looked down at the ocean as he talked.  
  
“It’s really a lovely night tonight isn’t it?”  
  
Don whipped his head over to look at Henry. “What are you doing?”  
  
“I’m just...making conversation?”  
  
“Well you can stop.” He looked back down at the water and then back at Henry, “What are you even doing out here? Naked.”  
  
“It’s a,” Henry chuckled, “it’s a long story. And what about you? What brings you here?”  
  
Don didn’t answer for the longest time. Finally he said, “My wife died. Ex-wife."  
  
“I’m sorry.”  
  
“Cancer. Her funeral was tonight and my daughter thought it would be best if I did not attend.”  
  
“That’s awful.”  
  
“No. What’s awful is that she was right. I haven’t seen my kids in six months.  I was a terrible husband, a terrible father. I didn’t deserve to be there.”  
  
“You don’t deserve to be here either. Your kids just lost their mother, don’t make them lose their father too.” Henry took a step closer. “You think that this is the right thing to do, that it’ll make everything better. But you take that leap, you drag that razor across your skin and that’s when you realize it doesn’t help anyone. But fighting? That does.”  
  
Don rolled his eyes. “You ever been to one of those hippie groups? Because you’d fit in just fine.”  
  
“I’m serious.”  
  
“Really?”  
  
“Yes. I’ve been where you are, but I know the way the way out.” Henry held out his hand. “What do you say?”

 

**1988**

Jack Harkness leaned up against the door frame watching as Henry gathered the dishes from the table and took them to the kitchen.  
  
“Hey,” Abe tapped him on the arm and handed him a wine cooler. “Thanks for coming. I know it was a long way to travel but…”  
  
“Don’t mention it. I’d go to the end of the earth for your dad.”  
  
“I know. But still you dropped everything and flew here. I know people who wouldn’t travel to another state for their friend, let alone another country. So really, thank you.”  
  
Jack silently watched Henry.“He seems to be doing okay today don’t you think?”  
  
“Yeah, yeah I do. But that’s what I thought last week and then...” Abe let his words trail off as he took a drink.  
  
“He loved your mother Abe. It’s normal that he would need some time to get over her.”  
  
“It’s been almost three years Jack. And I miss her too. Everyday I miss her, but I’ve come to accept that she left. And she’s never coming back.”  
  
Jack sighed. Abe had a point, it would be best if Henry were able to get away from a town so full of memories. And he did miss seeing him so much.  
  
“Hey Henry,” Jack said as he walked into the kitchen. “I had a thought…”

  
  


**1995**

Henry had forgotten how much he hated dates. The awkward chit chat “Oh where are you from” and “Tell me about your family” both of which were questions Henry actively avoided answering. And then once you got past that you were thrown back into it when you met the friends and all of those needed to be answered again.  
  
“So Henry, what do you do?” One of Monica’s friends, Joe might have been his name Henry wasn’t sure.  
  
Henry paused for a moment while he took a sip of his coffee. Then he said, “I work at an antique shop that a friend recently opened. I help track down specialty pieces.”  
  
Everyone looked at him like they weren’t sure if they were supposed to think that this was the most boring job they’d ever hear of or the least.  
  
“So you and Ross are kind of in the same line of work.” Chandler, that name Henry was sure of, said.  
  
“Really?” Henry raised his eyebrows. “You specialize in Antiques?”  
  
“No,” Ross said rolling his eyes at Chandler. “I am  a paleontologist. I work at the New York Museum of Prehistoric History.”  
  
“Yeah, like I said Antiques.”  
  
It was at that moment that a woman with long blonde hair carrying a guitar case came and sat down with the group. “I’m pretty sure I just bought a old doll that is possessed by my dead mother's ghost,” The woman said.  
  
Everyone looked at her like this was the most normal sentence they had ever heard.  
  
“Show it to Henry!” Joe, no Joey Henry was sure of that now, said. “He deals with old stuff.”  
  
“It’s more tables and frames, not--” he hesitated to finish the sentence, “possessed dolls.”  
  
Everyone’s faces fell and now he was sure they were thinking that his job was terribly boring.  
  
Henry’s relationship with Monica fizzled shortly after that. Monica had said it was because he didn’t seem to fit in with her friends, which she wasn’t wrong about.

 

**2012**

Abe was fixated on the television when he heard the door opened.  
  
“Henry!” Abe called out. “You need to see this!”  
  
“What is it?”  
  
“Look.” Abe pointed at the screen where the news was showing an attack in midtown featuring Iron Man and flying monsters of some kind.  
  
“What…” Henry sat down next to his son.“Is that…”  
  
“Captain America. Yep. And they’re saying it’s the real guy too.”  
  
“And what are they fighting?”  
  
“Nobody knows. Apparently they came out of a portal in the sky.”  
  
“How is this possible? How do we suddenly live in a world where aliens come out of the sky?”  
  
“Asks the immortal.”  
  
Henry ignored the comment and continued talking, “One day the world is nice and calm and then all of a sudden…” he stopped talking and leaned in closer to the screen, “IS THAT THOR THE GOD OF THUNDER?"  
  
He leaned back in his seat ran his hands over his face.  He then jumped up and headed back to the door.  “I need to go help.”  
  
“Henry…”Abe followed behind him, “There are superheroes out there handling things.”  
  
“I can’t just stand around and watch the world fall apart.” He placed a hand on Abe’s face, “I will be fine. I promise.”

 

**2016**

Every so often something would happen to make Henry Morgan look at his life and think about how much the world has changed in the last 237 years. Once upon a time pregnancies weren’t even acknowledge, then came baby showers where it was women only. And now here he was attending his very first baby shower.    
  
“Welcome!” Richard Castle, the father-to-be, said walking up to Henry.  
  
“Hello. I’m Henry Morgan.”  
  
“Yeah, you’re Jo’s---friend. Is that the term you guys are going with?”

Henry smiled to himself. “Yes, friend.”  
  
“Well welcome, I’m glad you’re here.” Castle looked around awkwardly.  
  
“So is this your first baby shower?” Henry asked.  
  
“Yes. Second child, first baby shower. Unisex baby showers were kind of taboo my first time around.”  
  
“I’m sure you’ll be finding a lot of things are different this time. I was amazed at some of the things they have come out with.Things would have been a lot different.”  
  
“Do you have a kid?”  
  
Henry paused for a moment, and then decided to go with the truth. Well partial truth. “Yes. Abraham. I don’t get to see him to often between him living with his mother and being a teenage who wants to do anything but be see with his father.”  
  
“There they are!” Kate said as she and Jo walked up. “Of course the men are congregating together.”  
  
Jo slid her arm around Henry’s waist. “You good?” She whispered.  
  
“Great.”


End file.
